Redemption
by DarkFlameWarrior
Summary: Seven years after the events of Pokémon Platinum, Dawn returns to the Distortion World to retrieve Cyrus.
1. Chapter One

Foreword: This was originally intended to be a one-shot, but then expanded into a full-fledged story. Cyrus simply gets more and more out of character the more the story progresses, due to my horrible ability to keep characters in character, and I apologize beforehand. On the other hand, Dawn's characterization is of my own creation, since the anime moved to CN and I stopped watching at Battle Frontier; it is slightly influenced by Pokémon Adventures' Platinum Berlitz. Additionally, this fic includes a few of my own ideas about how the Pokémon world works, which carry the high probability of not making sense to anyone else other than myself. Should you come across one of these, please feel free to express your concerns. I also have a bad habit of contradicting myself in my work, quite unintentionally.

With that in mind, enjoy the horrible plotline that sounds like some deranged fangirl threw it together!

/

1

/

Without the presence of Giratina, the Distortion World was rather peaceful. Though the unusual gravity made navigation difficult, the lack of a real flow of time made any haste meaningless. There was barely any sound, apart from the waterfall's constant flow, and the sound of his own footsteps. And while the utter absence of any other sort of life form might have made another feel lonely, Cyrus simply felt at ease. After all, this world was akin to what he had strived to create. All his life, he'd despised the company of others, realizing that such companionship resulted only in a mutual exploitation.

He'd used this to exploit a countless number of people, assimilating them into the ranks of Team Galactic with promises of glory and fulfillment, and found his observations of human weakness manifested in every encounter with one of the team members. The newest of the recruits, the strongest of the grunts, and even his self-appointed, fanatic Commanders were incompetent and incomplete. All the more reason for him to create his new world, to erase the imperfection that was the human world.

And yet, despite the perfect calculations, the immense effort and manipulation, the years of waiting, it had all fallen apart.

Cyrus had gone over the events of the world of reality in his mind over and over again, the memories a constant vexation in an otherwise surreal existence. Everything should have worked, and it would have, he had concluded, had it not been for a young girl named Dawn.

The sheer gall of the girl, to almost single-handedly ruin his plan, still gave him a cacophony of emotions. Simply dwelling on the memory of her actions would elicit responses that he had long deemed as useless, but try as he might, Cyrus could not shut her out of his mind.

It had always been that way, ever since had first encountered the girl at Lake Verity. In passing, she had registered as nothing more than a foolish child following a foolish dream, still deluded into thinking the world was a wonderful place. It hadn't been until their first battle, and the fiery determination in her eyes as she prevented him from disfiguring the mural within Celestic Town, did Dawn become prevalent in his thoughts. At first, Cyrus had dismissed it as the sting of being defeated, something that was insignificant compared to the completion of his plans, but in his meditations here in the Distortion World, he'd come to realize something else.

He had allowed Dawn to get this far.

When Mars first reported being defeated by a young girl, he should have eliminated Dawn from the picture. Why hadn't he? If not then, why not after Jupiter's defeat in Eterna City? True, his Commanders were still weak, and at that time Dawn had not seemed much of a threat, arriving far too late to make a difference, but he had let that slide. Even when it became apparent that Dawn would not stop meddling in their affairs, even after she had beat him down in Celestic Town, he'd sent his grunts after her knowing that they would fail, rather than use more guaranteed means. Had almost balked and lost his composure when Charon suggested that they shoot Dawn, even if it was only in the leg to cripple her.

And so she had defeated him yet again, there in the headquarters. The building was nothing more than a tribute to the ugliness of the world, yet within those walls Cyrus faltered. Playing the part of a storybook villain, he had exposed his plans to her, told her exactly what he was going to do, and then to top it off, gave her the Master Ball with which she later capture Giratina. True, the Master Ball had become useless after it was revealed that encasing Dialga and Palkia within them would have diminished their powers, but he had handed to his enemy the exact thing she needed to seal his defeat, rather than trap her there, or kill her. He, Cyrus, had been prepared to destroy the world, and in the end he couldn't bring himself to eliminate one meddlesome girl.

He had to admit, he was intrigued. What drove her to such lengths to protect such a weak world? How could someone propelled by something as hollow as sentimentality still be so strong?

Dawn was his antithesis, and in the end, she had shown him to be wrong. This Distortion World had not disappeared upon Giratina's capture, and though he had vowed to find another way to achieve his dream, Cyrus knew it was now impossible. Dawn had defeated him, both his plans and his resolve. She had revealed that he still held emotions in his heart, and had drawn them out with her determination and strength. Their last encounter had been a struggle for the Galactic leader, as he tried to suppress the thrill of battling with such a skilled opponent, and had finally succumbed to the hatred in his heart.

And even then, when Dawn captured Giratina and spelled an end to his dream, Cyrus had done nothing to her. Not that he hadn't tried, but his finger refused to pull the trigger, as he took aim from afar. A wide open shot that hadn't been taken. Cyrus still didn't know what had stayed his hand, nor why he still kept the gun even though there was nothing to shoot apart from himself. It would be foolishness to commit suicide, but the thought still crossed his mind on occasion.

Neither had he parted with his Pokémon, though they had not been released from the confines ever since he had lost to Dawn. There was no point in doing so. Being in the Distortion World rid one of the need to eat, or do any other metabolic process. One simply existed.

Wasn't it what he had wanted? Cyrus wanted to say yes, but then why did he seem to yearn for something more?

Having walked across the dimension many, many times, Cyrus was accustomed to absently wandering about the paths. One in particular seemed more traversed than the others, well-worn by his own footsteps, and ending where his dream had ended, in sight of the twinkling, swirling portal that lead to the world of reality. With no wind to stir things up, the evidence of the battle between him and Dawn were still there, preserved for however long he had been here, yet another insistent reminder of his own failure.

But today there was one more…

The light from the portal intensified for a second, and when it had faded, two figures stood in front of him. One was a Floatzel, with fangs bared and orange fur on end, the powerful tails swishing.

The other was unmistakably Dawn.

Though she had grown taller, and was no longer as child-like in stature as Cyrus remembered, the look in her eyes was the same as it was back then; resolved, and afire with her own will. As their gazes met, he took a step back.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

It seemed that, of its own accord, Cyrus' hand had grabbed the gun from his waist and taken aim at her. Dawn's eyes narrowed, but she showed no fear. "I'm here to bring you back to the world of reality," she replied evenly.

"I have no wish to leave."

"You assume I'm giving you a choice in the matter."

The challenge behind her words was familiar, but Cyrus wondered how she would accomplish her objective. Being shorter in stature, and physically weaker, she could not carry him out against his wishes. And though her Pokémon were more than capable of the job, what would she gain from such an act? Not to mention that he was still pointing a gun at her…

"Is there a reason that you want me to leave?" His voice was less steady than he would have liked, but he hoped Dawn wouldn't notice.

"It's been decided that you cannot remain here any longer. Giratina doesn't like the idea of you messing around in its home, while the beings of emotion, willpower, and knowledge all think you need to be punished."

He laughed. All his life, he had been shown the ugliness of the world, and here it was again. Punishment, for trying to create perfection, to erase the hideous amalgamation that was spirit.

"But while I agree that you shouldn't stay here, and that trying to destroy the world is a high crime, I don't want to hand you over to Looker, and lock you up for the rest of your life." Dawn stepped forward, closing the distance between them. "These past years, I've been thinking a lot about you. Why were you so keen on getting rid of spirit? What drove you to believe it was so bad?"

Her statement took Cyrus aback. He'd always assumed that Dawn would forget him, having already saved her world from destruction, but for her to admit that he was in her thoughts, just as he often thought of her, it awed him.

"So I decided that I would be the one to administer this 'punishment', that I would take you back to the world you tried to destroy, and then show you what spirit is. While it is true that spirit is rage, hatred, it is also patience and love." Dawn took the final step, close enough that she could have reached out and touched the gun that Cyrus held. "This compassion that you scorned me for, it is that too. And you, who has shunned the world for its spirit, you have obviously never been shown the gentle side of spirit. All that I have ever seen from you is hatred, but I believe that you, too, can love."

Her naivety would have been laughable, had it not been for the seriousness of her dark eyes, and the determined set of her jaw. Cyrus wished to counter her words, but he could not deny the truth in them.

"You're a-" he started to say.

Faster than he had anticipated, or perhaps because he'd been distracted by Dawn's words, the Floatzel pounced on him, and the shot went wild, the sound echoing loudly in the emptiness. Cyrus landed on the ground, the wind knocked out of him. He was aware that another one of Dawn's Pokémon, her Gallade, had appeared to help hold him down. Now, he could only watch as Dawn bent down to pick up the Poké Balls that had fallen from his belt.

"Chill, you five. I'm not going to hurt your trainer," she told the Pokémon within them, who could been seen through the semi-transparent tops of the capsules. "Calm down. I'm sure you guys want to get out of here too."

For some reason, her words didn't manage to placate his raging Pokémon, but Dawn simply latched the Poké Balls onto her belt as if they were her own, and turned to kneel by Cyrus, taking something out from her bag.

"The lake guardians were most eager to help me," she continued. "And so they helped me craft this variant of the Red Chain you made from their gems. Since you're not Dialga or Palkia, it should suffice. I'm quite sure you know what it does."

She'd wrapped the chain around his left wrist, and as Cyrus watched, with a growing sense of dread in his stomach, it faded away into nothingness. He did indeed know what the chain that now connected them would allow Dawn to do. He had used his knowledge and willpower, the essences of Uxie and Azelf, to secure the masters of time and space, but Dawn would use both those and emotions, the essence of Mesprit, to now be able to control him.

Her Floatzel and Gallade released their hold on him, returning to Dawn's side, and Cyrus sat up warily. He couldn't feel the chain, but…

"Come," Dawn said, turning and walking towards the portal. . Her Pokémon dashed to her side, and she did not turn around to see if he came. Because again, she had won, and though he willed himself not to, Cyrus rose, and followed her out of the Distortion World. Ironic, and appropriate, that the chain made of spirit would be what forced him to do her bidding, just as he had used spirit to rally Team Galactic to his will.

The sunlight stung his eyes, and the shift in gravity made him lose balance, reeling against the mountain wall. A hand grasped his arm, guiding him up the precarious slope as his vision adjusted to a world of light.

/

_I couldn't catch my breath  
Or calculate my death  
Design of secret lace  
And now I'm lost in space  
And now it comes to this_

_I'll close the door  
There's no one home  
I'll catch my breath  
But why half live?_


	2. Chapter Two

I HAVE A MARVELOUS BETA! :D Hopefully this will result in less contradictions and grammatical errors, and an overall better fic. Feel free to point out anything weird that you see though!

Thanks for everyone that's read and reviewed so far. You mean a lot more to me than you know.

/

2

/

When it became apparent that the former Galactic leader was going to be taking more than a five-minute shower, Dawn kicked off her boots and flopped inelegantly onto the luxurious bed closer to the door, pulling out her Poke Gear. The device, which had originated in Hoenn, had been given to her recently by Cynthia so that they could easily keep in contact. Hitting a speed dial number on the keypad, Dawn held it up in front of her. Her Floatzel jumped up on the bed as well, curling up on the corner.

"Hey Dawn, how goes the scheme?" Cynthia's voice asked, after a few rings. The former champion appeared on Dawn's screen, the visual delayed for a few seconds.

"It's actually going well, so far."

"You sound surprised."

Dawn chuckled. "To tell you the truth, I wasn't really sure if things were going to go smoothly. I was really nervous when I went into that portal at Sendoff Spring. What if I accidentally summoned Dialga and Palkia inside the Distortion World?"

"Silly girl. Even after Uxie already confirmed that the chances of that happening were slim to none?"

"Still, I had expected _something_ to go wrong."

"That doesn't sound like you, dearie. You were never the nervous type, so don't start now," Cynthia chided. "Where are you at now? Hotel Grand Lake?"

"Yeah. He's taking a bath right now. Rotom delivered the clothes you picked out. That feisty little thing managed to just walk through the closed door with them." Rotom was currently back in its Poké Ball, but Dawn wondered if the plasma Pokémon had wanted to play pranks while in the bathroom. That would have been very bad.

"That's a good idea. After all, you weren't going to deliver them yourself, were you?" commented Cynthia, making the tips of Dawn's ears go red at the idea. "So now that phase one is complete, what are your plans for phase two?"

The way the former Sinnoh Champion phrased her question made it sound as if they were conducting an experiment. In a sense, Dawn found that to be a fitting image. After all, no one in recorded history had tried to do what they were doing now, with a modified Red Chain. And yet it was slightly disturbing, because she didn't appreciate the idea of _experimenting_ on fellow human beings.

_We're just consistently setting the record of what no one has ever done before, Cyrus and I._

"I'm not sure. Maybe something to get his Pokémon out of their Poké Balls more, since I don't think he had been letting them out." Though Dawn had already taken the liberty of allowing Cyrus' Pokémon to roam about in the space specially reserved for Pokémon, a large area of the hotel that had been set apart for that purpose, she wanted to foster more interaction between them and their trainer. Thankfully, they had calmed down, though her own Pokémon were still keeping an eye on them. But she seriously doubted that Cyrus had allowed his Pokémon to roam freely while in the Distortion World.

"That's a good start. Since you're close to Sunyshore, might I suggest a trip to the beach?"

"The beach?" Dawn thought about it. "I guess that could work, but it's getting dark. Maybe tomorrow morning." The idea of Cyrus and the beach made her giggle, simply because the image of the stoic, serious Galactic leader being at somewhere as carefree and bright as the beach just didn't make sense.

"Sounds like a plan," said Cynthia. "Well, I got to go. Call me if anything comes up, and good luck!"

Flipping the Poke Gear shut, Dawn laid back on the plush bed, and quickly fell asleep.

/

It wasn't until the water was no longer warm did Cyrus realize that he had been in the shower for a few hours, and his skin had roughly taken the texture of a raisin. The relative temperature of the water did not bother him, as the waterfall in the Distortion World had been equally cold, if not colder. Often times, he had mused there, the falls being the only other source of sound in that realm other than himself.

Switching off the water, Cyrus rolled aside the shower door to reach for a towel without thinking about it. It wasn't until he had dried himself off that he realized that despite the years spent in the Distortion World, the world of reality was still as familiar to him as if he had never left. It was as if the world was telling him he could never run away, that no matter what he did, he could never escape its grasp.

And he couldn't run away, not with the spirit chain binding him to Dawn.

There was a stack of clothing lying on the counter next to the sink. Cyrus wondered how it had gotten there. Certainly, it hadn't been there when Dawn shoved him into the bathroom and closed the door, but he hadn't heard anyone come in either. Had Dawn herself placed them there? And what was more, his old outfit seemed to have vanished…

Better not to think about it.

Surprisingly, the clothes fit well, though the foggy mirror gave him no means of which to see how he looked in them. No matter. He had never been one to place a high priority on his own appearance. Back in his hometown, he'd often been described as ugly…

Opening the door, Cyrus walked into the main room to find Dawn slumbering on the bed, her Floatzel curled up at the corner. The open window showed the darkening horizon, and as if on cue, Cyrus' stomach let out a loud grumble. He hadn't eaten anything in the Distortion World, not requiring nourishment there, another fetter of the world of reality.

The Floatzel's ears perked at the sound, then the Pokémon leapt from the bed, putting himself between Cyrus and Dawn with a low growl. Cyrus stared down the water-type, until Dawn stirred and sat up. "It's okay, Bui-bui," she said, noticing the situation. Her Floatzel seemed unconvinced, but looked at Dawn, a show of trust that disgusted Cyrus.

Then Dawn's gaze turned to the former Galactic leader. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then paused.

And then she laughed.

Her mirth had a more profound effect on Cyrus than he had expected. He at once became self-conscious, wondering why she was laughing so hard, and he could feel the blood rushing to his face. "What is it that you find so funny?" he asked, managed to keep his tone steady.

"I – haha – I've never seen you wear something so normal – hahaha!" she exclaimed, covering her mouth with both hands. "I mean, it doesn't look bad, but it makes you look totally different," she continued, breathless from laughing.

"How so?" he queried automatically, and instantly regretted the question. It made it sound like he actually cared what Dawn's opinion was.

"Well, the shirt Cynthia picked is far more colorful than your other one, and the jacket is more stylish and nice, while the jeans make you look younger and less formal. And less like some convict from prison. I guess it can't really balance out the too-serious look on your face, but now you don't look as scary either."

She thought he looked scary before?

"Oh, if you're hungry, we can head over to the restaurant here for dinner." Dawn got off the bed, picking up her bag from the floor and slinging it over her arm. With a smooth motion, she plucked a Poke Ball off her belt and recalled her Floatzel. Her high-handed manner had ceased to amaze Cyrus long ago, but when she passed by him on the way to the door, it seemed that she was trying not to look at him.

/

Butterflies in the stomach. Wobbly, unsteady legs. Constantly shifting position. Shortness of breath and uncertainty. These were signs of nervousness, and Dawn currently exhibited them all. Why, she couldn't say. Was taking Cyrus out to dinner, simply because they had to eat something, really so stressful?

Okay, maybe the idea of eating dinner with her former enemy was slightly unusual, but having the upper hand with the spirit chain, Cyrus couldn't do any harm to her. Maybe it was the problem of figuring out what to talk about over dinner. Or that because the former Galactic leader was now dressed in normal clothes, that people might mistake them for a couple as before with Lucas?

But there was no more time to wonder. Dawn's brisk pace brought them to the front of the restaurant, and she was reluctant to show any weakness in front of Cyrus. Taking a deep breath, she opened the doors to the elaborate restaurant and stepped in, not bothering to hold the door for Cyrus.

The waitress at the doorway asked, "Two people?" At Dawn's nod, she directed them towards one of the tables at the side of the spacious restaurant. "Your server will be with you shortly," she said, giving them their menus. Out of the corner of her eye, Dawn noticed the waitress giving Cyrus a weird look, as if wondering, _Isn't he too old_?

Opening up her menu so that it blocked her view of Cyrus, Dawn took another calming breath. She had to keep her composure, though she wasn't sure why that was so important at the moment, since before it had always come and gone naturally. Right now, she was aware of every little detail about her posture, the way her hair was arranged, the clothes she was wearing. It took so much effort to remain the image of a confident, strong Sinnoh champion.

/

"So what are you going to order?" Dawn's voice issued from the other side of the menu that she currently held upright, obscuring her face from Cyrus' view. He wasn't sure if that had been intentional, as the menus were quite tall.

The food served in the restaurant was all very expensive, he'd noticed. The interior decoration was very fine, and their silverware was all designed in the same way. It brought back memories from his childhood, which Cyrus hastily pushed away.

Why was she asking, anyway? Couldn't she make him tell her what he was thinking to order? What was the point of having the spirit chain if she was never going to use it? Did it take a lot of concentration for her to exert her will with it? Dawn seemed content to hold the threat of forced compulsion over Cyrus' head, and never exercise it if he was compliant, which simply cropped up a whole host of other questions. Early on, he had pegged Dawn as being compassionate, and yet she obviously was not being walked over by others. How did that work? Did she have some invisible control over other people as well?

"Are you even listening to me?" her voice demanded. The top of her menu tilted towards him, exposing the top of her face. Her dark blue eyes stared at him as if daring him to answer in the negative.

"Yes, I am listening," Cyrus replied. Then, recalling her earlier question, he finished, "I will probably get the gourmet Caesar salad," naming the first item that he saw.

Dawn gave him a look, letting her menu fall flat on the table in disbelief. "We're at a fine dining restaurant, and all you want to eat is _salad_?"

"There is nothing wrong with salad," he defended, "and if this place is meant to be formal, then I am sadly underdressed." The retort had been unbidden, surprising even himself. He hadn't talked so normally to another person in a long time.

Actually, the last person he'd had any sort of real conversation with had been Dawn herself, now that he thought about it. To his underlings in Team Galactic, and even Cynthia, he had simply pushed his views onto them, not allowing them to say anything in opposition.

"Huh. You don't seem like a salad type of person to me, but if that's what you want, then okay."

Her righteous attitude annoyed Cyrus, just a little. It didn't help that she was right, and that she seemed to always have been right, ever since they had met. And what exactly did she mean by him not being a salad type of person?

"I mean that you seem more of a bloody carnivore, or maybe even a cannibal," she replied with a straight, serene expression. "And you don't look like a vegan, you're far too stocky and buff."

Did she just call him buff?

/

She hadn't intended to call him buff. It had just slipped out, as Dawn struggled to find the right words to describe what she thought. At least Cyrus didn't mention it the way he had inquired about her choice of words regarding the salad. _Honestly, Dawn, "a salad type of person" isn't very eloquent!_

Other than that, the meal had passed rather uneventfully. Dawn had been unsuccessful in engaging Cyrus in any sort of conversation, largely because she couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't be suspicious at the restaurant. Talking about schemes of taking over the world and spending time in a different dimension sort of wasn't the norm. And then afterwards, she'd led the way back to the suite, wishing that she'd had adequate foresight to have reserved _two_ instead of one. At least there were two beds, though if that were not the case, Dawn was definitely not going to be the one sleeping on the floor.

She had been rather surprised at Cyrus' amenability. Dawn had been expecting him to bolt at the first chance he got, but he seemed content to follow her lead, and she hadn't had to use the chain to exert control over him yet. Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't planning anything; in fact, it made Dawn even more on edge. He probably had some grander plan of escape, more effective than trying to just run.

It was so tiring, being so suspicious. Why couldn't everything just be easy and benign?

Interestingly enough, Cyrus was sitting on his bed, reading one of the books that the hotel provided. Dawn watched with slight curiosity as he turned the pages, avidly devouring the contents. It was evident that Cyrus had a passion for reading, and learning. In school, they had called those kinds of people "nerds", a term that had been pegged to Dawn often before she started her journey.

"Cyrus," she said, catching his attention.

He seemed reluctant to set down the book. "Yes?"

"You really like books, don't you?"

A pause. "Yes."

"But don't books capture the essence of spirit? I thought you hated spirit."

A frown creased his face. "Not all books tell a story. There are those that hold pertinent information to this world."

Dawn, who had been lying on her stomach on her bed, propped her head up with her hands. "But doesn't each author write the book with a reason? Even if it is to inform, why would they want to do so?"

"Money," he replied automatically. "They write so that when other people buy their books, they will receive money. It is the basis of corruption in this world - the fools that think amassing great amounts of wealth will lead to anything worthwhile. Wealth is merely another illusion that will fall before death."

"Not everyone that writes is out for the money, though," Dawn pointed out, cutting off his speech about an incomplete world. She'd only heard it about five or six times before. "There are lots of them that genuinely enjoy writing, and sharing their experiences with their readers through the pages."

Cyrus seemed baffled by her words, as if the idea of someone genuinely enjoying anything of this world was a strange idea. "Is there something you wish to get at?" he asked coolly.

Realizing that his mood had changed, Dawn shrugged, and rolled back over on her bed. "I was just wondering. Don't stay up too late, I have plans for the morning."

_Dawn quickly fell asleep in the bed…_

/

Cyrus had just finished the book, and was reaching for another one, when he noticed that Dawn had fallen asleep, her back turned towards him. Her Gallade was slumbering against the wall, the rest of her Pokémon roaming in the enclosed outdoor area. What was there to stop him from running away right now?

But his instincts told him that it wouldn't be just so easy.

Reaching out, Cyrus' hand encountered a solid resistance, glinting faintly in the light of his lamp. A Reflect barrier, he noted, one that formed a wall between him and Dawn's bed, and more importantly, the door. There was probably a similar barrier over the window as well, barring him from any means of escape.

Slightly frustrated, he picked up another book, and continued to read. At least this was one solace that he had not yet been denied.

/

_Dawn and the Pokémon became fully healed from the rest!_

Dawn woke up early in the morning, just as the sun's rays crept over the horizon and streaked into the window. She'd left the blinds open, since there was a steep ledge outside the window to prevent people from looking in. Glancing over to the right, she noted that Cyrus was still asleep, the book lying on the bed as if he'd drifted off while still reading. The lamp next to him was still on.

Getting up, she put a hand to the Reflect barrier Gallade had erected, and felt it melt away at her touch, allowing her to switch off Cyrus' bedside lamp. She then picked up her bag and headed for the door. Perhaps she would go get breakfast from the restaurant and bring some back for him to eat when he woke up. The Sinnoh champion was rather excited about the prospects of going to the beach, as she hadn't indulged in such pleasantries since obtaining the title. It was only because Cynthia had volunteered to cover for her should any other person make a challenge that Dawn had even been able to leave the Pokémon League castle for any extended period of time. In her seven years as champion, countless trainers had underestimated her ability due to her age, and Dawn had to prove them wrong again and again.

In a way, she missed being a normal trainer, running freely about Sinnoh with her Pokémon. It just wasn't as fun being Champion, answering the call to battle day after day. Many of her challengers hadn't even been close to her level, resulting in boring one-sided battles. Dawn missed the thrill of contesting with someone that was on par with her, or perhaps considered above her.

Skipping out to the restaurant, Dawn waved hello to the joggers passing in the opposite direction. Due to her status, most of them recognized her, but none stopped to chat, which was fine with her. It bothered her when people treated her with awe, in the same way it annoyed her to be treated like a kid.

_You're just picky, Dawn,_ she scolded herself. _What others think of you doesn't change what you are_.

/

_I use to believe in  
Some kind of feelin'  
That could change everything I thought I knew  
But that door is closed and  
My heart feels like it's frozen  
If you hear me I can feel you_


	3. Chapter Three

A shorter chapter, but definitely one of the more fun ones to write. Enjoy!

/

3

/

The former Galactic commander was awoken by the sunlight streaming into the room, blinding him with its glare. Rubbing his eyes, he looked over to the open window. Honestly, what kind of person left the blinds open during the night? Who knew what kind of spies could be covertly gathering information?

Dawn seemed to be absent from the room, which didn't bother Cyrus. At the very least, it showed that the spirit chain didn't prevent them from being physically separated at reasonable distances. That piece of knowledge didn't seem to be very helpful, but perhaps it could be utilized later, when he made his bid to escape.

That was assuming that he was even planning to escape. Right now, it seemed pointless, and Cyrus hadn't even bothered trying to test the limits of the spirit chain. Knowing Dawn's willpower, which rivaled his own, it was clear who would be victorious. And even without utilizing the chain, Dawn had dragged him out of the Distortion World to this hotel, forced him to take a shower, made him dress up in "normal clothing", and then taken him out to dinner. Their conversations numbered three total, none being of any significant length or topic. Still, the figure was impressive, given that Cyrus was usually more inclined to deliver monologues than engage in dialogue. He wasn't sure how Dawn managed to elicit conversation from him at all, or why she even tried.

The door swung open suddenly, revealing Dawn and her Gallade laden with plates of food. "Good morning," she said cheerfully, setting down the plates on the table. "I didn't know how long you'd sleep for, so I brought you breakfast. Eat up, the sooner we get there the better."

"Where are we going?" asked Cyrus.

"I was thinking to go to the beach at Sunyshore," Dawn replied, handing him a plate of food. Then she caught the dark look on his face, and queried," Is there something wrong about going to the beach?"

As usual, her question could be answered with yes or no, but Dawn obviously wanted more than that. "I would prefer not to go to Sunyshore," Cyrus replied evenly. Dawn would probably pry, being of that nature, but it couldn't be helped.

But instead, she tilted her head to the side, and said, "Okay. We can go to the one near Pastoria, how's that?"

Surprised at her answer, Cyrus only managed a nod. He hadn't expected Dawn to change her plans just because he didn't want to be near Sunyshore. Was this how she showed her compassion?

"By the way, don't frown so much. It makes you look so mean. You'll scare all the kids, and then we'll have to deal with the parents." The scenario was preposterous, but her tone of voice was boring on teasing rather than any sort of reprimand. As if to confirm Cyrus' analysis, Dawn giggled. "It couldn't hurt to smile a bit."

"I don't usually smile."

"Mm, that's too bad."

/

It took only thirty minutes for Dawn to check out of the hotel, and recall all their Pokémon from their field, but she could see the many, many people dotting the shoreline as they approached. From the young children with their inner tubes, to adults simply relaxing in the sun, there seemed to be quite the crowd today.

The moment they reached the sand, Floatzel took off, diving in the waves and spraying nearby people with water. Smiling, Dawn detached the other capsules from her belt and let out her Staraptor and Rapidash. Her belt was made to carry more Poké Balls than the usual six, since she had gotten an exception from the League to surpass the limit. Looking back at Cyrus, Dawn noticed that his gaze was fixed on her Floatzel, now frolicking in the waves. She couldn't quite tell what he was thinking, behind the usual frowning mask, but it was probably something about spirit. Heck, that seemed to be all he ever thought about…

"Hello?" she snapped, waving a hand impatiently in front of his face.

It was similar to the scenario in the restaurant. The former Galactic leader seemed to be lost in his thoughts, but at her rather rude prompting, Cyrus snapped out of it. "Hello."

"Which one of your Pokémon do you think would enjoy the beach more?"

He stared at her, frowning, as if the question she posed was extremely unusual. Then again, it probably was, for him. "I wouldn't know," he finally answered. "But I would suggest Gyarados."

Hey, he actually answered! Reaching for the sea serpent's Poké Ball, Dawn let it out. Gyarados flopped about on the sand, spraying them with small white granules, before managing to wriggle into the ocean.

Taking one look at the sand-covered Cyrus, Dawn burst out laughing. He irritably brushed the sand off, and his face appeared to be a little more pink, or maybe that was the contrast of his usual skin tone with the sand. Was he embarrassed? She couldn't really tell.

No matter. Dawn whistled to Floatzel, who came to shore, and hopped on his back to go surfing among the waves. Laughing amidst the ocean spray, she steered her mount towards Cyrus' Gyarados, standing on Floatzel's back in the manner of a surfboard.

It was an evil idea, but Dawn couldn't see how else she could get Cyrus to do anything other than stand on the beach, looking like an idiot. His stern features seemed even bleaker now that he was surrounded by people and Pokémon having fun, interacting together in spirit. Shame he wouldn't ever join in of his own accord…

His Gyarados seemed content to follow her idea of chasing the pair around, Floatzel's speed making up for the handicap of Dawn's weight. Even though the pseudo-dragon type was scary looking, he appeared to have a playful side, or a competitive one. Tapping Floatzel on the side, Dawn steered them further from the coast, bobbing a respectful distance away. Cyrus' Gyarados followed them, and stopped an arm's length away with a baffled expression, as if wondering why the game had suddenly ended.

But it had just begun.

/

_I'm surrounded by idiots_. Standing on the shore, Cyrus was beset on all sides with people and Pokémon wasting away their lives having fun. He could see nothing so engaging about the beach. The sun glared off of the sand, blindingly bright, while the waves carried the chance of carrying one off into the sea. The former was a mere annoyance, the latter an actual issue, as Cyrus did not know how to swim. Ironic, considering he had grown up in the city known for its Surf contests and splendid beaches.

There had been one time when his family had brought him to the beach. His mother and father, people who viewed him as hindrance rather than their own son, were attending a luau there, and though both parties would have preferred if Cyrus had stayed home, his grandfather had insisted that he come along. To maintain their illusion of deference and good manners, his parents had gone along with his grandfather's wishes. It was really that pathetic illusion to which Cyrus owed his life. Had his mother gone along with the popular trend in dealing with pre-marital, unintentional children, he never would have been born.

Sometimes he wondered if that would have been preferable. To never have come into this ugly world to live a miserable existence. Then he would berate himself for indulging in such weakness, because it was obvious that his reason for coming to this world was to change it to a better one, even if that included destroying it and rebuilding it.

Correction, it _had_ been obvious. Until Dawn walked into his life and tore it all down.

What exactly was that girl doing out in the middle of the sea with her Floatzel, anyway? The sea weasel might be a powerful swimmer, but even that wouldn't help if the current was too strong. Dawn was far too carefree, too careless.

Cyrus frowned at the large wave heading towards shore. Had Dawn's Floatzel unleashed a Surf attack towards the shore? And where was his Gyarados?

His second question was answered when the sea serpent shot out of the wave at him, causing Cyrus to topple over the crest on top of the water Pokémon's head. Instinctively, Cyrus grabbed on, as his Gyarados rode the wave back out to sea, to where Dawn was watching from her perch on Floatzel's back.

This was obviously her doing. Dawn's eyes sparkled with amusement as Cyrus drew near, unsuccessful in trying to steer his Gyarados back to shore. So now he was stuck out in the ocean, with no means of getting away, because his own Pokémon wouldn't even listen to him.

"Cyrus," she called out. "I have a proposition for you."

"And what might that be?"he snarled. His Gyarados towered over her, as if he weren't already tall enough himself to do that.

Unperturbed, she beamed up at him. "We're going to play a game. It's called tag, I'm sure you've heard of it."

"I can't see that being much fun for you." Cyrus scowled. He was referring, of course, to the fact that Dawn would have to _make_ him play, which resulted in very poor competition. Hardly a satisfying way to play tag, and even more so considering Dawn seemed to thrive on challenges. "I have no intention of partaking in such a foolish waste of time."

"Oh? What a shame," she said, shrugging. "I was going to make a bargain with you. Something like, if you manage to catch me within an hour, I'll let you go."

Cyrus stared at her. "You're willing to gamble something like that on such a trivial game?"

"Why not?" Dawn parried, spreading her arms in query. "And why do you sound so opposed to the idea? The way I see it, you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain." With that, her Floatzel shot off over the open sea, and her taunt floated over the waves, "Run, run, run, as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"

Her statement was baffling, as they were not running, and Dawn clearly was not made of gingerbread, nor was she male. But the challenge, along with the incentive, stirred something within Cyrus. Suddenly he found himself fired up again, determined to catch the young girl that taunted him. As if sensing his mood, his Gyarados lurched forward in pursuit.

Dawn's Floatzel was extraordinary fast, and its endurance was incredible. The path that they took was never predictable, dancing tantalizingly close, then zipping frustratingly far. Still, Cyrus managed to land a few close encounters, expertly maneuvering his Gyarados in complex patterns to draw Dawn in, and block her escape. The young girl took risks, rather than dancing out of range at every opportunity, giving Cyrus a chance to win and then taking it away just as quickly. Despite that, he was confident in his ability to win.

This time, he had her trapped between the shore and his Gyarados. The sea serpent's bulk was ideal for this, covering a large area, but just as Cyrus was going to tell Gyarados to close up the ring, her Floatzel launched an Aqua Jet attack, sending his quarry literally flying over Gyarados' tail, and back out to the open sea. Dawn's laughter rang out, a delighted sound that paid tribute to just how her crafty scheme had brought Cyrus to this… humiliating point.

He was having fun. Cyrus couldn't deny it. It had been so long since he'd engaged in something so simple and yet so challenging, and though his pride was deeply cut, he couldn't bring himself to care. All that mattered was the game, and winning the game. At this point, he wasn't even doing it for the prize Dawn had offered; it had all but slipped from his mind.

Both of them were so engaged in the game that they failed to notice the helicopter in the sky. Further inspection would have revealed a tattered golden G emblazoned on the machine's side.

/

_I'm a house of cards in a hurricane  
A reckless ride in the pouring rain  
She cuts me and the pain is all I wanna feel_

_She'll dance away just like a child_  
_She drives me crazy, drives me wild  
But I'm helpless when she smiles_


	4. Chapter Four

It's been a while, but here is chapter four! It's a little longer, but this was definitely fun to write. If you're reading this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

One note : I have Dawn's Pokémon talking to her in italics, only because I feel that she can easily communicate with them, and don't want to make up a series of Pokémon noises for her to somehow translate. Cyrus, of course, doesn't understand a word of what they're saying still.

Whether or not this is a romance… you'll find out.

/

4

/

The hour was almost up, but Dawn wasn't sure if she wanted this to end. She'd gambled on her abilities and offered the prize of freedom to Cyrus, and it had paid off. Her Floatzel, with the ability to drift on water effortlessly, was still far from tired, while the former Galactic leader appeared to be putting a lot more effort into the game than Dawn had initially expected. If she didn't know better, she'd say Cyrus was having fun, even when she threw Gyarados' Poké Ball at his head in an attempt to distract him, and it collided with an almighty thud.

Of course, that probably wasn't the case. Breaking free from some brat girl that had upset his plans before and now dragged him along like a pet on a leash was probably his motivation to play this game.

His Gyarados seemed to be tiring, although the sea serpent didn't seem to want to quit either. Dawn had serious doubts that his Gyarados had ever played around like this. What a sad existence, to be seen merely as a means for accomplishing something, rather than a close and trusted companion.

"Do you think we should extend the deadline, Bui-bui?" she queried to her mount, crouching down. The nickname was outdated, picked before Floatzel's evolution, but Dawn had continued to use it. Float-float just didn't sound as good. "We're drawing quite a crowd on the beach, if I'm not mistaken." And a number of them glinted with the tell-tale reflection of cameras. Possibly paparazzi.

"_It's fun, but he's getting slower_," her Floatzel replied.

"Maybe another day, hm?"

Cyrus' Gyarados was headed in their direction, but Floatzel lazily propelled away. Ready to call time, Dawn stood up atop her trusted water-type, but before she could say anything, a cry from above distracted her, with the distinct tones of her Staraptor. Both of them looked up to see the Flying type, along with the helicopter hovering above them…

"Staraptor?" she called out. "What's is it?"

Before Staraptor could answer, a flash emitted from unusual protuberances on the helicopter, and the distinctive sharp crackle of electricity reached Dawn's ears, along with the pained cry of her Pokémon. Snatching her Poké Ball from her belt, Dawn quickly recalled Staraptor.

If the helicopter could dispense lightning bolts, then they were in big trouble out on the ocean. Dawn urged Floatzel towards shore, hoping that Gyarados would take the hint and follow. But when they reached the sand, she turned and saw the sea serpent still far behind, too tired to move quickly.

/

Cyrus looked up at the helicopter. He knew that Gyarados wouldn't make it to shore before whoever was piloting the craft could unleash another burst of electricity. For his sake, the sea serpent had put too much effort into the game, and was far too weary.

Which left Cyrus with a dilemma. He could either let Gyarados get struck by the pseudo-lightning, which would probably hit Cyrus as well, or recall his Pokémon to become a smaller target and be at the mercy of the ocean. They were still too far from shore for the latter to be safe, but the former was a guaranteed hit and subsequent problems that could include injury, capture, or death. None of his other Pokémon were capable of taking the waves, but perhaps Dawn would come to his aid.

It had been so long since he'd relied on another. He wasn't even sure if Dawn would help him. And yet he recalled Gyarados, falling into the cold sea.

Fighting to even stay afloat, Cyrus was relieved as he saw Floatzel speeding towards him. Dawn appeared to be standing on the shore, pointing at the helicopter and issuing a command to her Rapidash. The Flamethrower attack wouldn't be very effective, but perhaps it would serve as a distraction.

His relief was short-lived, though. It appeared that whoever was flying the helicopter had no scruples about aiming at seemingly defenseless people almost drowning in the ocean, and Cyrus' vision went white as he felt himself get zapped by the electrical attack. The subsequent paralysis, along with his blinded vision, made him feel even more helpless.

Something wrapped around his waist, tugging him in what seemed to be the upward direction, towards the sound of the helicopter. There seemed to be more than one appendage pulling at him, and as his vision slowly returned, Cyrus noted a big blue blur. Most likely a Tangrowth…

His feet came in contact with a solid surface, and Cyrus heard a door slide close, the noises from outside suddenly muted. Blinking in an attempt to clear his fuzzy vision, he noted that there was someone else in the cabin of the helicopter.

"Well if it isn't Master Cyrus," the woman stated in a rather petulant, childish voice. She had the distinct cyan hair and bowl cut typical of a Galactic grunt, but Cyrus didn't recognize her. Not that he had really remembered any of his underlings apart from his Commanders. "Mars and Jupiter said something about going off to a Distortion World to find you before they quit, but it appears we got to you first. How wonderful for us."

Before he could process the implications of the sentence, Cyrus spotted Dawn through the window, mounting her Rapidash to give chase. But considering that the helicopter was in the air, and her Staraptor was injured, he wasn't sure how she was going to go after them. The woman spoke again. "Thanks to you, we're stuck with this stupid hairstyle, but at least now we can – "

The helicopter careened wildly to the right, throwing them all off balance. "What the hell is going on?" the former grunt demanded in the direction of the cockpit.

"I don't know!" a panicked male voice answered. "It won't respond to my commands!"

Useless fools. They obviously hadn't changed, still obsessed with ideas of grandeur and glory. A silhouette appeared on one of the overhead monitors, disappearing in an instant, but Cyrus recognized Dawn's Rotom. The electric and ghost type must have infiltrated the system, disturbing the controls, something that it was known to do. And unless the Tangrowth was as dimwitted as its trainer, the fact that it was still holding on to Cyrus gave him the impression the grunts weren't here to rescue him. Then again, that was already quite obvious from when they zapped him in the water.

As the craft lurched in the other direction, Cyrus was thrown against the opposite wall, along with the Tangrowth that bound him. The impact dazed him for a few seconds. The female grunt crawled into the cockpit, muttering something about idiots, though Cyrus knew their attempts to regain control would be fruitless. As if to mock their efforts, Rotom caused the cockpit doors to close, locking the duo inside. Despite that, the Tangrowth didn't let go of him, disoriented as it was from the helicopter's crazy flight pattern.

/

Dawn watched the helicopter spin in the air, pirouetting about an imaginary axis. That Rotom was having far too much fun. It wasn't often that she allowed the mischievous ghost to screw around with electronics, and this was the first time she had commanded it to do so on purpose. As a diversionary tactic, it was rather effective.

She liked efficiency, at least when the situation called for it. There was nothing worse than slugging it out in a battle of attrition. This kind of mentality was clearly displayed behind the plan that she had cooked up to rescue her charge, even though she wasn't sure if Cyrus needed rescuing or not. Either way, she was responsible for him and his actions. Allowing him to return as head of Team Galactic would get her in quite a lot of trouble, and put a serious dent in her professional pride.

Still on the ground, Dawn had recalled her Rapidash in favor of another member of her team. "Ready, Gallade?"

The blade Pokémon nodded, grasping Dawn's arm in the manner of a gentleman. A split second later, they had boarded the helicopter, utilizing Gallade's innate ability to Teleport, as well as Rotom's electric field to pinpoint a safe location to materialize. The moment they landed, Gallade left Dawn's side to slash at the Tangrowth in the cabin.

The vines snapped from the attack, freeing Cyrus from its grip, but the grass type wasn't about to relent. Instantly regenerating its lost limbs, Tangrowth whipped out at Gallade, forcing him to engage in battle. Which hadn't been part of the plan. Dawn had wanted to be quick to get out, lest the tide turn against her favor. Though the cockpit door was closed, Rotom still had to exert a large amount of energy to control the aircraft due to the size, and she didn't want to push its limits. Rotom wasn't known for endurance.

"Ice Punch," she commanded, ruthlessly taking advantage of the Tangrowth's weakness. As the grass-type became entombed in ice, she grabbed Cyrus' and Gallade's arms, and the latter Teleported them back to the ground below. The whole thing hadn't taken more than a minute.

Now above them, the helicopter continued to swing wildly, then twirled towards the nearby forest in what appeared to be a crash course. A form disengaged from the craft, and floated closer to reveal Rotom, flashing happily.

"Good job, Tom-tom," Dawn said, letting go of Cyrus and Gallade to cup the plasma Pokémon in her hands. "Though I must say, you went a bit overboard."

"_It was fun! Let's do it again!_"

Chuckling at her Pokémon's enthusiasm, Dawn looked up to see the helicopter returning towards them. Evidently, the pilot had regained control. "Next time, make sure they can't follow us."

"_So there is a next time?_" Rotom inquired, perking up a bit. It was obviously tired, since Dawn could feel its weight in her hands.

"Gallade, Teleport us to Pastoria," Dawn commanded. Gallade's ability to Teleport was rather limited, compared to a Gardevoir's or an Abra's, but she had no other choice. Her Rapidash could hardly carry the weight of both her and Cyrus and still outrun the helicopter, and Teleport would leave no obvious trail to follow.

Three teleports later, each in successively decreasing distances, they arrived in Pastoria City. Dawn immediately recalled Gallade, who had fallen to his knees from the effort of Teleporting the four of them multiple times, and Rotom to their Poké Balls, and turned to Cyrus. "You're wet," she commented, the first thing she noticed. "And your clothes are ruined."

"Did you expect me to be dry after falling into the ocean? And I am quite sure clothes aren't made to be electrocuted."

His rejoinder made Dawn snicker in a rather un-ladylike fashion. There was a touch of sarcasm in his remark, though it hadn't been expressed in his tone of voice. "Let's go to the Pokémon Center," she said, "and you can dry up while our Pokémon get healed. I'm sure we can get something for you to wear too."

/

The Pokémon Center had already started the process of healing up their injured and tired Pokémon. The service was free, which Cyrus found absurd. It was just another tool, easily abused by irresponsible trainers that couldn't take care of their Pokémon well, and taken advantage of by literally every trainer in existence. Assured that professional healers could restore their Pokémon's health, inexperienced and foolish trainers would recklessly challenge opponents far beyond them.

Currently, he was standing in one of the available rooms offered by the Pokémon Center. A bunk bed was against the wall, and there were other sparse furnishings. Dawn had gone out to get a towel, with which he could dry off, even though he found it unnecessary to do so. Still, the girl had insisted, and as usual, Cyrus could do nothing.

He had to admit that her ploy earlier was impressive. While it was obvious his ill-intending former grunts were still rather pathetic, they'd always managed to provide a minimal amount of opposition. Certainly none of them had been able to command a Tangrowth before, the ability to train high-leveled Pokémon manifesting solely in the four Commanders. Yet Dawn had countered them with a minimal effort, using only two Pokémon to pull it off.

The door creaked open, and Dawn peeked in, holding an outlandishly pink and purple towel, which she tossed at Cyrus before going over to the bed and sitting down on the bottom bunk. "You know," she commented conversationally as Cyrus began to towel off his hair, "I could have sworn that helicopter was from Team Galactic."

"It was," Cyrus confirmed, wondering how ridiculous he looked using such a towel, even if it was in the colors of a Master Ball. At least she wasn't laughing at him. Though perhaps she'd picked it for the intent of humiliating him further and was silently ridiculing him.

"Who was on board, did you notice?"

"There was a male and a female. I only saw the female, but her hairstyle was of the absurd style adopted by a large number of underlings in a movement to prove that they were loyal." It had been a ridiculous idea, but Cyrus had supported it, if only to increase his control over the grunts. "However, it seems that their loyalty is now directed elsewhere."

"Did you recognize her?" Dawn queried. When Cyrus shook his head, she scoffed, and commented, "Figures. Obviously you're not going to remember some little grunt, even if they were part of your team."

Raising an eyebrow, Cyrus asked, "Is that what you think of me?" She probably believed he was a psychopathic, ugly person that wanted to take over the world.

Dawn was silent, and just when he thought she wasn't going to answer, she said softly, "You want to know what I think of you?"

She wasn't looking at him; rather, her gaze was fixed out the window, so nodding would have been pointless. Cyrus wasn't sure whether or not the question she posed was rhetorical.

"I think… that you just want to be happy, but that you've decided that happiness can't be found in this world. I think that you feel everyone is against you, and that's why you've done everything you could to try and make a different world. From what I've heard, this world hasn't been kind to you at all, and you've been through a lot of hardship since you were young. I can't imagine some of the things I've heard, and if it were me, I could never endure all that you've gone through. But you're strong. That's why you've survived."

Dawn looked back at him, a sad look in her eyes. "And to prevent yourself from getting hurt more, you've cut the world off, and refused to trust anyone again. Which means that you'll never be happy as long as there's another person in this world. But I… I wish that you could be happy in this world."

Her analysis was astonishingly accurate, but Cyrus' initial surprise gave way to suspicion. Unless Dawn was guessing, her knowledge of his past implied investigation, that she had pried into his secrets. He wasn't sure what kind of intentions she held, and she could easily be putting on an act, in an attempt to gain his trust.

"Are you trying to pretend that you understand me?"

"Well, you asked!" she snapped, her expression immediately changing to one of anger. "If I'd known you'd be so unappreciative, I would have left you in that helicopter, or the Distortion World!"

"I never asked you to rescue me," Cyrus retorted. "You always meddle in other's affairs, when will you learn to stop being such a brat?"

Three quick steps, and a blinding impact on the side of his face; it took a while for Cyrus to realize that Dawn had slapped him, and from the expression on her face, she was as surprised at her own actions as he was. But before Cyrus could recover, she ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her and leaving him in sudden silence.

/

Pastoria City was a lush, green place, and next to the Pokémon center was a park, bordering the Grand Marsh for which the city was famous. It was there that Dawn stopped, and abruptly sat down on the grass, forcing herself to calm down and slow her breathing.

Dawn hadn't intended to tell Cyrus what she thought about him, hadn't intended on being vulnerable and emotional, but for him to reply in that way, to trample on her feelings, it hurt more than she cared to admit.

When she had regained her composure, Dawn sat back against a nearby tree, and took out her Poké Gear. Hitting Cynthia's speed dial number, Dawn waited until the former Champion appeared on her screen.

"Well if it isn't Dawn. You were just featured on breaking news, with a bunch of eyewitnesses saying a helicopter shot Thunderbolts at you two." Cynthia's face disappeared from the screen as the camera focus shifted to the television, where a large man was being interviewed by a female reporter.

"Wonderful," Dawn remarked dryly. "Did it say anything about where the helicopter went?"

"Reports indicate that it went in the general direction of Mt. Coronet." Cynthia reappeared, a curious look on her fair features. "Care to give me a more detailed report? They're not giving us any more information other than it attacked you and Cyrus, before taking off."

"Apparently, there were two Galactic grunts in there. They tried to kidnap Cyrus."

Cynthia raised one delicate eyebrow, though if she had the other raised, it was obscured by the lock of golden hair that fell over one eye. "Now why would they want to do that? I presume that they failed, from the context of your sentence."

"Well I went and got him back. It didn't seem as if Cyrus was a willing participant, but he doesn't seem very grateful that I rescued him either," Dawn said sourly.

"He isn't the kind to show gratitude, and you ought to know that Dawn."

"I know," she replied miserably.

"Where is Cyrus, anyway?" inquired Cynthia.

"He's in one of the rooms of the Pokémon Center. Or at least, he was there when I slapped him and ran off."

The sound of laughter issued from Dawn's Poké Gear. "You _slapped_ him?" Cynthia asked incredulously, shaking her head. "My my, you're probably the only person I know with enough spunk to do that!"

"Oh I don't know, your grandmother seems like she wouldn't hesitate if the situation arose," muttered Dawn.

"True," Cynthia conceded, "but what in the world did he do to make you slap him? It's not often that you get riled like that."

/

Cyrus had been slapped before in his lifetime, mostly during his childhood, but this was the first time such an action lingered as more than a painful sensation on his cheek. Before, it had just blended into the rest of the violence, and he'd accepted his inability to do anything about it, having been unable to discover exactly what he had done wrong apart from exist. But now, Cyrus knew exactly why Dawn had slapped him. Though he despised emotions, after using them for so long to manipulate his underlings, Cyrus had come to a minimal understanding of how they worked in other people.

From his analysis, Dawn was angry because he had presumed her as false. Though it was obvious now that, from her reaction, she had been speaking the truth about what she thought of him. And a part of him, long buried under his hatred of the world, had responded to her words. The young boy that had once searched for the meaning of his existence, not yet wishing to create his own world, but to simply find a place where he would be happy, and have friends, had surfaced once more.

And now Cyrus had probably alienated the only person willing to show him the world that he had wished for then.

He willed himself not to care. Tried to convince himself that that side of him was long dead, and that the world could never offer him anything that he wanted. Happiness could be nothing more than a façade that could not stand to the reality of death.

But when Cyrus emerged from the room to see Dawn in the lobby, retrieving her Pokémon from the nurse, his resolve crumbled away. Hiding in the hallway, he watched the young champion exit the building, looked through the window to see her sit in the grassy area next to her Rapidash, leaning against the Fire Pokémon's flank under the shade of a tree. As if in a trance, he moved towards the window to get a better view of the girl resting there, unaware of any scrutiny.

She appeared to be conversing with her Rapidash, though he couldn't hear anything through the thick tinted pane. And even if he could read her lips, he would never be able to understand Rapidash's reply. Cyrus had never paid enough attention to his Pokémon to decipher what they were saying.

At the window next to him, there were two young men conversing in slightly hushed tones, and Cyrus realized they were talking about Dawn. They seemed to be unaware that he could hear them.

"…the Sinnoh League Champion?" one was saying. "She's totally hot."

"Yeah I know, she and the former champ Cynthia are just gorgeous," agreed the other. "Wonder what she's doing here in Pastoria. Do you think she'd give us her autograph if we asked?"

"Huh. She seems sort of sad right now, so maybe not. Do you think she'd cheer up if we gave her flowers or something?"

"Flowers? That's way old school, man, we should probably get her a Nugget or a Carbos. Something expensive and rare."

"Hey, you think if we gave her a Master Ball, she'd like it?" suggested the one on the left.

"How in the world are you gonna get a Master Ball?"

Directing his attention back to Dawn, Cyrus was sure that giving her another Master Ball wouldn't make her happy. And yet something compelled him to want to do something about her apparent sadness, as if she were a Togekiss that could not withstand sorrow.

What was it about the girl that made him feel this way? Hadn't he long accepted that the world had abandoned him, had turned his back on the world as well? He'd learned that it was useless to invest time in other people, as they would eventually fail him, but why did Cyrus wish to make Dawn smile, to go to lengths for such a fleeting prize? It was ludicrous, and irrational, yet it persisted.

/

She opened her eyes at his approach, but closed them again as Cyrus came to a halt, a few feet from where she sat with her Rapidash. A tight, nervous knot had made its way into Cyrus' stomach, as he'd never done this before…

"Dawn, I… wish to apologize for my earlier remark."

There, he said it. Now to see her response. Hopefully…

The dark blue eyes opened again, though her expression was neutral, and her gaze directed at the patch of grass on which her hand rested. "You don't have to apologize," she stated coolly. "I should have expected it."

It was obvious that Dawn wasn't about to believe that he was sorry, which probably hadn't sounded very sincere. After all, Cyrus had no idea how to apologize sincerely. "Nevertheless, I apologize," he said curtly. "It was unnecessary and trivial."

She looked at him, probably looking for a sign that he was lying, then her expression softened. "I guess if you really mean it, it would be rather inconsiderate of me not to accept your apology." Then a faint smile appeared, as she commented, "You look more like you're threatening me than apologizing, though."

Clearly, she found the notion amusing. At least it meant she wasn't mad anymore. "Sorry."

Breaking eye contact, Dawn looked up at the sky. "Saturn says that he ordered no attacks on us, but he doesn't have complete control over everyone that used to be in Team Galactic. They split into several factions upon the defection of Mars and Jupiter, along with Charon's arrest, but considering the general intelligence level of the average grunt, I didn't think they'd be much of a problem. Obviously I was wrong."

"You keep in contact with Commander Saturn?" Cyrus asked, with a hint of surprise.

"It's a mutually beneficial relationship. I don't turn him in, and he provides me with information, while controlling the criminal activity within Sinnoh. It's much less threatening to have a rather benign syndicate, rather than an unpredictable extremist such as the Aqua and Magma teams in Hoenn." The latter category could also have been used in reference to Team Galactic while under Cyrus, but Dawn didn't seem to be implying that. "He's actually a pretty good, if not unambitious, leader."

"He's extremely good at following orders," Cyrus added, recalling Saturn's persona, "and has a weakness for pretty ladies."

Dawn blushed, quickly glancing down, and Cyrus realized how she had probably just interpreted his sentence. It was a given that Saturn probably found Dawn attractive, but it could have implied that Cyrus, too, found her to be pretty.

This probably was what they referred to as "an awkward silence." It was broken after a few minutes by a soft nicker from Rapidash, who nudged Dawn gently. The girl patted the Fire type reassuringly, running her hand down the white flank without fear of the flames.

"Maybe I should get Cynthia to talk to him now," Dawn suggested tentatively. She attempted a smile, but it was shaky, and her face was still flushed with a slight tinge of pink. "She's the beauty of Sinnoh, after all."

"I don't think it will make a difference. Saturn makes his best effort given a certain level of incentive, usually to avoid incurring my wrath."

Dawn giggled at that, though Cyrus couldn't see what was so funny. "You know, you're not really that scary when you're mad."

"You have probably never seen me mad."

"Weren't you mad when you found out I caught Giratina, and the Distortion World didn't disappear?" asked Dawn, arching one eyebrow. "And you always pretended not to be mad when I beat you."

Was he so transparent to her? Cyrus had perfected his unemotional demeanor over the years, and yet Dawn still managed to tell what he was feeling, at least to a certain degree. Still, it was much different than any other interaction he had with people. Most of them had never tried to see past his mask, and Cyrus had never intended them to.

But before he could make any reply, Dawn stood up. "You need new clothes," she declared. "There's a small mall here, so let's go."

/

Having gone to the room to retrieve her bag, Dawn's mind was preoccupied with the longest conversation that she'd had so far with Cyrus. He didn't really seem adverse to talking, though Dawn had noticed the more emotional he got, the more he said. She would have replaced "emotional" with "angry", but now it was obvious that his current capacity to feel extended beyond anger.

_I need to start thinking that he's more normal, _she mused. _My inclination is to treat him like he's… must I say it, a child! Though time doesn't flow in the Distortion World, so theoretically he didn't age while there, he's still a whole eight years older than I am, and hardly a child anymore. Still, I guess that's better than seeing him as an evil, power-hungry crazy dude…_

It didn't take long for Dawn to acknowledge that Cyrus probably had a reason to be mad at her; after all, she _had_ almost single-handed destroyed all of his lifelong goals, and then added insult to injury by dragging him back to the world of reality on a leash, literally. But she couldn't help wonder if sometimes his tough front was just a barrier, and if behind it existed some longing for friendship.

/

_This is your life, are you who you want to be_

_Is it everything you dreamed that it would be when the world was younger and you had everything to lose?_

/

A/N: Why is Gallade's ability to Teleport not as good? Because he's an awesome swordsman and doesn't practice Teleporting much. And I'm not quite sure how Team Galactic rigged the copter to use Thunderbolts, I imagine they got some hints from Team Rocket (in the anime) with crazy machines.

Next chapter should be up once I stop being dissatisfied with the presentation of the writing. Hopefully within a few weeks, otherwise I won't finish before NaNoWriMo starts (and then I won't be working on this).


	5. I look back

The real reason for this post is to tell you all that Redemption is on hiatus until after November, that is, after NaNoWriMo '10 is finished. Currently, I'm plotting out my characters and possible storyline for my novel.

A little aside here, we're writing poems in our class, and I decided to write one about Dawn leaving the Distortion World after capturing Giratina. We were supposed to write a persona poem in which it's hard for the reader to know if the person speaking is trustworthy or not, and I think I succeeded, mostly because no one knew that this was about Pokémon at all. It made for some pretty interesting interpretations. I succeeded in confusing everyone in my group.

But without further ado, here's the poem if you want to read it for yourself… tell me what you think.

**I look back**

_One day, you will awaken to a world of my creation. A world without spirit. -Cyrus_

Distortion  
swirls around you  
standing there staring where –

disappointed  
are you  
oh Great emperor of the Galactic universe?

did not the reality I  
held to your  
face

destroy your dream?  
yet why must you  
still

deny the rich emotions  
gripping your  
heartless heart?

dead is our strife  
stubbornly clinging to you  
with stiff claws

deeply embedded in  
the bitter look on your  
frozen furious features

destiny was never a  
crimson future for me…

– there is no red sun  
because this is not your  
World


	6. Chapter Five

It's been a while. So, here's an extremely long chapter for y'all to enjoy. The next chapter will be quite a long time off as well (though hopefully not as long as this break was).

/

5

/

His Pokémon had warmed up to Dawn rather quickly, Cyrus had noticed. Then again, it was pretty obvious, starting with how Gyarados has so willing participated in her water-tag scheme, continuing with Weavile and Houndoom dogging her footsteps as they continued to shop, or that Honchkrow had very willingly given up a feather to stick into the fedora that Dawn had purchased for Cyrus (and that he refused to wear). And Dawn seemed completely unafraid of them, treating them as if they were her own Pokémon, and even feeding them bites of Poffin which they seemed to enjoy immensely.

How Dawn had managed to drag him to the mall was something Cyrus didn't care to contemplate. A little matter of wounded pride.

"No, I don't think that will do, Weavile," she was saying. "I know you and Houndoom like the color black a lot, but you might want a little variety."

The dual Dark/Ice type seemed to sulk a little, but dutifully put away the shirt that he had plucked from the rack. It was rather interesting, Cyrus noted, that Dawn could commandeer the compliance of former adversaries with seemingly little effort. Though he supposed that Pokémon were less likely to hold a grudge, or suffer from foolish pride, than fickle humans.

"What are you looking for?" he queried, as Dawn continued to peruse the isles. There seemed to be a motley assortment of clothing assembled under a large sign that proclaimed "CLEARANCE" in large, red letters.

"I thought you could use a jacket," she answered, glancing in his direction. "Though I guess having a long-sleeved shirt makes a thin jacket rather redundant. And.." Dawn looked at the Pokétch on her wrist, "it's getting pretty late. We should head back to the Pokémon Center for the night, and then head out in the morning before those grunts find us."

Cyrus raised an eyebrow. "It's not like you to run away."

Rolling her eyes at him, she replied, "It's not running away. We don't have enough information on these people yet, so engaging them is pointless. Until Saturn or some other source comes up with details on exactly who they are and what they want, I'd rather keep moving so it's harder for them to act."

"Do you mean to say that you had information on Team Galactic before you stormed my headquarters?" he queried, frowning. While his grunts didn't know the meaning of censorship, Cyrus had restricted most information to the Commanders and himself, and had been very careful to make sure that none of it leaked out.

"No. I was young and thought I was invincible." Dawn shrugged. "I was only twelve, you know. At that age, you feel like you can do anything. I was just lucky enough to actually pull it off."

/

Where had Dawn gone? One moment she was sitting at the desk, and the next time Cyrus looked up from his book, she was gone. Instead, a young trainer, wearing a distinctive red beret on his head and an unwelcome expression on his face, stood in front of him. Cyrus had seen him before, aiding Dawn in ruining his plans for making a new world. And there was no doubt in his mind that this trainer, whose name Cyrus had never known, recognized him as well.

"What are you doing here?" the young man demanded, his feet set apart, arms crossed, his voice lanced with suspicion. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he thought Cyrus was trespassing, or worse.

"I'm looking for Dawn," Cyrus replied bluntly. "Have you seen her?"

"What do you want with her?" There was a dangerous glint in those dark grey eyes, and one of the trainer's hands had fell down to his waist, resting on the curves of the spheres at his side.

The implication was not lost on Cyrus. Clearly, the young trainer believed that he intended to do Dawn harm, and as was typical of hot-headed young men, wanted to settle the matter with a battle. It certainly wouldn't do to say that he currently was only in possession of his Gyarados, and that Dawn had the rest of his Pokémon with him.

Cyrus was about to reach down for the single Poké Ball on his belt when a delighted exclamation drew his attention to the doorway.

"Lucas!" Dawn swept into the room, embracing the young trainer. "When did you get here? And Cyrus, stop frowning like that."

She seemed to be completely oblivious to the tension in the room, which was now rapidly deflating due to her arrival.

"Just now," Lucas replied, returning the embrace warmly before letting her go. "Are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine. I thought that you were going to get lost, so I went outside to see if I could find you, but I guess you didn't have a problem." Dawn's cheerful smile belied her teasing tone. "_This_ time."

"Hey, knock it off, just because you can Fly everywhere doesn't mean that you're better at reading maps than I am!"

Watching their animated and very friendly conversation, and unsuccessfully trying to unfurrow his brow, Cyrus felt an odd gnawing sensation in his gut. He didn't understand what it meant, and he certainly didn't think it was a good thing. Perhaps he'd eaten something that had upset his stomach.

"You didn't know that I went to go get Cyrus from the Distortion World?" Dawn was saying. "It's been the buzz of the entire League, and in Professor Rowan's lab to boot!"

"I was away collecting data for him, and you know that! My Poké Gear didn't get reception in the Isshu region, so how was I supposed to keep updated?"

"Check your email, silly. There's PCs in the Pokémon Center for that."

Even Cyrus could tell that the two were very close, simply from the way they interacted with each other, but also from the fact that Dawn knew what to expect from Lucas, and Lucas from Dawn. The questions they asked were in earnest, with a complete interest for the welfare of the other's being, rather than the self-absorbed focus that was present in a shallow conversation. And Lucas seemed to be able to anticipate Dawn's reaction to most of what he said, while the Champion's demeanor was far more relaxed than anything Cyrus had seen thus far.

The pain in his abdomen was getting worse. There was also now a bitter taste in the back of his mouth. Cyrus couldn't recall eating anything bitter, especially since Dawn's taste in food was rather refined. Maybe he was getting sick?

"You guys ought to get a move on." Lucas' gaze flickered briefly towards Cyrus. "Especially if you don't want to attract any unwelcome attention."

"We're headed out in the morning. It doesn't make sense to go out now, it'll be impossible to see all the mud pits."

Lucas smiled faintly. "I'm headed out tonight. Professor Rowan will want the results in person as soon as possible, and I'm not adverse to getting a little dirty."

Scoffing, Dawn crossed her arms. "_Boys_," she muttered under her breath. Then, "Oh wait, I have something for you up in the room. Let me go get it." And with that, she dashed off.

Lucas had been watching Cyrus as Dawn went to get whatever it was she wanted to give him; noticed how the former Galactic leader followed her with his eyes until she was out of sight. There was something he had been wondering thus far…. "You like her, don't you?"

The incredulous look that Cyrus gave him was probably the most open expression Lucas had ever seen cross that craggy, serious face. "What exactly is your meaning?" he asked, though it was perfectly clear that Cyrus knew exactly what Lucas meant.

Nevertheless, Lucas elaborated. "You know, you think she's hot and want her to be your-"

"You may keep such a ridiculous notion to yourself."

The abrupt interruption made Lucas grin. "Are you sure?" he pressed. "Don't be afraid to admit it." Then, when Cyrus turned to glare at him, Lucas put on a more serious expression and continued, "And it's no use denying it to me. I'm a Pokémon researcher, and I've been observing living creatures for more than half my life. Dawn might not have noticed, but it's pretty obvious to me that you feel something for her."

Judging from Cyrus' frown, the former Galactic leader was probably trying to think of something to say back, but was failing miserably. _So it's true, then_, Lucas thought. _Though maybe he hasn't quite realized it yet himself_.

"But I'll make this clear to you. Dawn's like a sister to me, and if you do anything to hurt her, I'll be out for blood. Provided, of course," here Lucas smirked, "that Dawn has left anything other than blood smears when she's done."

Watching Cyrus get tongue-tied was very peculiar, Lucas decided. The man was easier to tease than Barry.

"What's the matter, cat got your… hey Dawn! Did you know that-"

"-there's this Pokémon in the Isshu region that changes color according to the seasons?" Lucas finished, with a sly glance in Cyrus' direction. There was a distinctly victorious glimmer in those eyes…

Cyrus fumed. For a fleeting moment, he had been so sure that the young trainer wanted to tell Dawn of that farfetched hypothesis, and it appeared his reaction had been exactly what Lucas had anticipated. Now that he had time to think, Cyrus wasn't quite sure why he was so… alarmed at the thought of Dawn knowing what Lucas had conjectured. After all, it wasn't true.

"Really?" Dawn looked like she was about to launch into an animated discussion, until she glanced at Cyrus. "Lucas, what did you do to Cyrus?" Dawn asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." An expression of affected innocence was painted on the young trainer's face, obviously well-practiced, but the tiny quirk at the edge of his mouth gave him away.

She gave him a _look_, arching one eyebrow in an expression that even Cyrus could read: _Riiight…_

"Okay, maybe I teased him a little," Lucas admitted in a convincingly reluctant fashion.

Now Dawn rolled her eyes. "_Lucas_. Behave like an adult sometime, will you? Sometimes I can't tell who's more childish, you or Barry."

/

As part of their ever-wonderful hospitality, the Pokémon Center was serving breakfast the next morning, and Dawn helped herself to some of the steaming food. The ability to be hospitable to all sorts of people was something that fascinated Dawn, largely because she could never pull it off. Without fail, she would treat people differently according to their demeanor and actions, and what she personally thought of them, because she acted upon her feelings and emotions. Of course, it didn't make too much of a difference when Dawn thought well of most people in general.

Nurse Joy had been gracious, as always, in allowing them to have _two_ rooms that night, and Dawn had quite enjoyed a nice long shower, and being able to sleep in her own room.

It wasn't like Cyrus' company was that bad, though. Ever since they had resolved their little conflict, he had been quite amicable, though still not that talkative. Then again, Dawn got the impression that Cyrus had been quite disturbed with whatever Lucas had teased him about, so perhaps he wasn't to blame. And for some odd reason, he had returned Gyarados' Poké Ball to her.

She could see him putting some food on his plate, his face creased with that ever-present frown. He was thinking, she'd come to realize, when he had that scowl on his face. Though exactly what Cyrus was thinking about, Dawn had only a small inkling of a guess. Most likely his thoughts dwelled on the attack yesterday morning, and how it had come about, or what they were going to do about it. After all, he _had_ been their target. Dawn hadn't given too much thought to the attack, but she had wondered what the motives of the former Galactic grunts. As silly, easily-fooled fellows, they could be under the thrall of yet another leader.

Looking back at Cyrus' tray, she noticed that it contained significantly less food than her own. "Are you sure that's going to be enough for you?" she queried, raising an eyebrow.

As usual, Cyrus was slow to reply, though the fact that his gaze flickered to her face and away meant that he had heard the question. "The food is all in the open," he said simply.

"What, do you think that it's poisoned or something?"

"That is possibility," he replied, making Dawn scoff.

"You sure are paranoid."

"It pays to be careful," defended Cyrus. "Rushing recklessly into anything will eventually result in injury or death. As does naively trusting anyone or anything."

Piling more fruit into her plate, Dawn argued, "That's if you take unnecessary risks. But if you're constantly worrying that everyone around you has bad intentions, you'll just stress yourself out. They have studies that show stress shortens your lifespan."

"Being cautious about something doesn't mean that one is stressed about it. Those that are too free in giving their trust simply open the door to being taken advantage of."

She paused for a moment in the line. "Wouldn't it be nice, if we didn't have to worry about things like that?" she asked, turning to Cyrus. "If everyone could just live in peace, and trust one another."

"That kind of existence is impossible. Conflict would only cease if beings did not come in contact with one another."

"But that's what makes trust so important. Because we can't avoid coming into contact with other beings, we have to compensate by creating an environment where everyone can flourish," Dawn pointed out, waving out her arms in an encompassing gesture. "Humans and Pokémon were long meant to coexist. There's a book in the Canalave Library about that." Resuming her movement along the line, Dawn plucked a spoonful of raisins from the bar. "But recently, the balance has tipped, and I think that makes trust even more important. Without trust, we'll be constantly warring, and…"

She faltered. Much as Dawn liked Pokémon battles, she couldn't bear it when people got hurt or killed. It simply was a different kind of violence. "This world wouldn't exist," she finished, though her enthusiasm for the conversation had now faded.

/

Cyrus could tell that Dawn had left something unsaid. Before, her tone had blazed with confidence, and her belief of the goodness in this world. Yet she had suddenly broken off, and was now silent as they traversed the swampy area of Route 212, a melancholy expression lingering on her features despite her attempts to hide it. She seemed to be even more distressed than when they'd had their little argument back at the Pokémon Center. And now he didn't even know what was wrong. Was it something he had said?

So he followed in silence, analyzing their conversation to see if there was any clues that he had missed the first time that might help him understand the problem. Their exchange had been rather interesting, though Cyrus had heard Dawn's views parroted to him before. The difference between then, and now, was the fact that Cyrus knew that the world was balanced. Dialga and Palkia were offset by Giratina, even though the latter was currently residing inside Dawn's Master Ball. And though Cyrus was reluctant to admit it, Cynthia had been right about what she said in the Distortion World. That without one side, the other, too, would cease to exist.

Whenever things deviated from the balance, that was when difficulties arose. If a large enough conflict arose, only one side could win, and result in a self-destructing cycle.

Dawn's pace seemed to have quickened, as if she were trying to run away from something, but if was plaguing her mind there would be no outrunning it. That was something he'd learned long ago. The urge to escape such things had driven him to try and overcome these phantoms of the past by surpassing them, but no matter how much Cyrus accomplished, he could never satisfy his inner drive to succeed. It was a remnant of what his parents had demanded of him, and nothing he did had ever been good enough. Even after he had run away from home, the feeling still remained.

But what was he going to do, _tell_ her about it? Try and _comfort_ her? If anything, he ought to try and take advantage of this dip in her emotional state to escape, and yet Cyrus' thoughts couldn't dwell on such schemes for very long before wandering right back to trying to figure out what was wrong.

Just what was it that caused him to waste valuable brain space thinking about the _feelings_ of a young girl? True, Dawn's emotional state could well dictate what she would force him to do, should she decide to ever exert her will again, but she was hardly going to make him dance for her own entertainment. From what Cyrus had observed, before the Distortion World and now, Dawn's movements were always for a purpose, even if she acted otherwise. One didn't achieve the title of League Champion at the age of twelve, and hold onto it for seven years without learning to be intentional.

That he had been gone from this world for seven years seemed unreal. Nothing seemed to have changed, apart from the fact that his own criminal organization was now out to get him.

As if summoned by his thoughts, a pair dashed across the road in front of them, both sporting the typical bowl-cut of a Team Galactic grunt. To make things even more obvious, they were talking in loud voices about their mission.

"-said that we had to plant the land mines over on this route," the shorter one stated. His voice had the lazy diction of a dullard. "It leads from Pastoria City."

"I know that," snapped the other, a more slender but equally loud male. "Don't pull that yet!"

Dawn had drawn to a halt upon hearing their exchange, though they were so close that it was amazing that the pair hadn't spotted them. From where he stood, Cyrus couldn't see the expression on her face, but the amusement in her voice was clear as she asked, "What in the world are you two doing?"

Their heads snapped towards her. "It's that League brat!" exclaimed the taller of the two. Interestingly enough, neither of them seemed to notice Cyrus, despite the fact that he was standing right behind Dawn, and was their erstwhile Commander and current target.

"It's _Champion_ League brat to you," Dawn snarled rather impressively. Her Gallade and Staraptor had appeared in flashes of light as she spoke. "Now answer me! Why are you planting mines here?"

"We have orders to seal off all routes from Pastoria City!" the first replied automatically, unconsciously standing at attention. "In order to-"

He was elbowed by his companion, who hissed sharply, "Shut up fool!" To Dawn, he added, "We won't tell you anything!"

"Then I challenge you to a battle." Dawn shrugged, unbothered by their lack of cooperation. Gallade moved into position between them, while Staraptor gained more altitude, gliding above their heads. "A double battle with whatever your superiors have supplied you with. Perhaps you'll be more cooperative after you've received a sound beating."

"But we have no Pokémon," blurted the less intelligent of the two. Cyrus glanced at him with disdain. Someone without Pokémon was-

Then he remembered that Dawn was currently holding onto all his Pokémon, and stopped that train of thought before he inadvertently insulted himself.

The other moved quickly; taking advantage of the brief interlude and confusion, he snatched the mine from the dullard's hand, and threw it at Dawn. There was a bright flash of light and a loud explosion, as dust instantly filled the air; Cyrus shielded his eyes with his forearms, and felt Dawn step back into him, daring to look up a few moments later.

/

If it weren't for Gallade's lightning reflexes, Dawn was sure she would have been seriously hurt. As it was, the Reflect barrier was cracked from the force of the explosion, but had not broken, so the only effect that the mine had on her was temporary blindness, and to raise smoke in the air that made her cough. She seemed to have also inadvertently stepped on Cyrus' foot, though his utter lack of any reaction made her wonder if it hurt at all.

The two Galactic grunts might have possessed below-average IQ, but they had taken the opportunity to run away. Then again, what else were you going to do when you threw an explosive at a target that was barely ten feet away?

It didn't matter. Staraptor was nowhere in sight, and Dawn knew that she was already winging after the two grunts, following them with her hawk-eyed gaze. The Flying type had been a loyal, and often quite stubborn, addition to Dawn's first team ever since her journey with them began so long ago, and the Sinnoh Champion had only felt comfortable taking on this quest to retrieve Cyrus with them by her side.

_Though right now, he's not much of a problem, it's the people _after_ him that's the problem!_

He was frowning again, staring at the sky. Staraptor's conspicuous disappearance probably was not lost on him. After all, he was very observative, analytical, and intelligent.

"Staraptor wears a tracking device around her neck, so once they've stopped, I can locate them with my Poké Gear," Dawn informed him. "If it's their base, then I can call the local police-"

"No."

Dawn blinked at Cyrus' interruption, the sheer force in his tone catching her off guard. "No?"

He looked as if he were surprised by his own answer as well, his mouth slightly agape. "I do not think involving the authorities is a good idea," Cyrus said finally, as if he had just come to the conclusion himself. "They are barely more competent than my former underlings."

"You think Gym Leaders are incompetent?" Dawn queried, wondering if Cyrus realized how casually arrogant he sounded. "And the Elite Four?"

And myself?

The question was implied, but again, Cyrus seemed to instantly take in the import of her gaze. _Who would have thought that we would be able to communicate so easily? _she wondered.

"The League does consist of many who are far less adequate," he said brusquely, "but I did not mean to imply that you were incompetent."

"Well, naturally," she replied, with dry humor in her voice, "seeing how I _am_ the Champion. But whether you like it or not, I am duty-bound to bring these grunts to answer to the law, just like I have an obligation to fulfill concerning you. And I'm not going to back down from my responsibilities."

It wasn't like Cyrus could do anything, should he continue to be so obstinate. The spirit chain made sure of that. Yet Dawn found herself hoping that Cyrus would cooperate, and come with her of his own volition, rather than be forced to drag him along unwillingly. In the end, why did it matter whether or not Cyrus agreed? And still, she waited for his reply.

"Very well, then."

/

She seemed to have snapped out of the dazed state from earlier. For some reason, that greatly relieved Cyrus; he had been extremely discomfited by her silence, though why, he was not sure.

Their erstwhile conversation had been interrupted by an urgent beep from Dawn's Poké Gear, focusing their attention on the blinking dot on the map. "That seems to be around where Mr. Backlot's Mansion is," Dawn said. "It can't be that their base is there."

They had followed the signal, which stayed constant, until their destination was in sight. The sigh of the imposing structure towering over the high walls surrounding the large estate, an obvious representation of wealth in this world, filled Cyrus with loathing. That one would invest their resources in something so frivolous and unnecessary was absurd. He could hardly turn back now, though, having given his word, and as Dawn was already heading for the front gates.

And then she screamed, the piercing noise startling Cyrus from his thoughts. He looked up to see her standing in front of the iron gates, which were open, her hands covering her mouth, an expression of horror on her face. Running to where she stood, Cyrus looked into the mansion grounds.

/

_If I had been aware of its thorns, then maybe I wouldn't have plucked it_

_But now that I've already picked it up_

_And breathed its fragrance,_

_Letting go of this rose would rend my heart with pain _

_Far worse than the wound in my hand_

_Thus, I am unable to let go…_

/

A/N: If you know where this last quote comes from, you're awesome.


	7. Chapter Six

Apologies for the long delay. If you want culprits, here they are: school, forgetfulness, and having trouble keeping the plot within manageable boundaries.

Also, we're diving into the realm of actual violence here, though I think the rating is okay. I'm singularly bad at writing action, so more apologies here in advance. Use your imagination a bit.

/

6

/

The paved road was awash with dark red fluid, and what appeared to be body parts littered the once neatly-manicured lawns. Some were still recognizable as being human or Pokémon, lying in pools of blood, while others were mutilated and charred. The walls and ground looked as if someone had simply flung red paint everywhere, in a grotesque parody of art.

Dawn's breath came in quick gasps, her widened eyes fixated upon the scene in front of her, the smell assault her senses. So much death and blood. It felt like death was all around her, crushing her down, choking the life from her. Everywhere she looked, a horrific death had occurred. The maids and their Clefairy. Mr. Backlot and his butler. The exotic species that filled his treasured garden. Trainers that had come to visit, and their Pokémon. People that she had met, had talked to, had battled.

They lay dead, their blood pooling on the pavement and grass, their limbs scattered everywhere. Their lives ended so unceremoniously, so quickly. Dawn felt faint; she couldn't tear her gaze away, the images burned in her mind and –

A hand covered her eyes, another guiding her away, holding her trembling body against a solid, reassuring strength. "Don't look," said Cyrus' voice, though it was far too late for that.

So much blood. She hated blood, and had never understood how one's life could be ended so shortly, without a chance to fight, that people could be so cruel as to extinguish one another.

/

Cyrus' hardened gaze saw something that Dawn, in her horror, would have missed; the distinctive cyan bowl cuts of Galactic grunts, and the metallic glint of firearms. It was too late to hope that they hadn't noticed Dawn or heard her scream, but as usual, their response was slow.

_And good thing!_ Wrapping one arm around Dawn's waist, Cyrus dragged her away and flung himself onto the ground behind the thick walls just as shots rang out. It would take too much luck to rely on their hopeless aim; with so many fools shooting, one of them was bound to hit.

In desperation, he tapped the catches of all of the Poké Balls on Dawn's belt, before setting her against the wall. Her eyes were wide and unfocused, and she seemed to be unaware of what was going on; her breath came in ragged gasps. It was clear that she would be providing little help to the situation, but it didn't matter as her team had already begun to act.

Torterra, with his considerable bulk, had interposed himself between them and the entrance, effectively shielding them from any light attack. The Continent Pokémon's hard shell could probably repel the bullets; however it soon became obvious that the protection from firearms was unnecessary.

There was an electric crackle, and Cyrus poked his head around the corner to see Rotom, whose ghostly form did not fear any manmade weapon, twirling in the center of the clearing. Floating in the air with it were countless guns and pistols, wrenched out of the grasp of their owners by the powerful magnetic field the small Pokémon was generating. Cyrus admired the intelligence of the plasma Pokémon, with its deep understanding of electromagnetism, which often eluded many a physics student.

This left the door open to the considerable offensive capabilities of Dawn's team. Staraptor's aerial assault kept the grunts on their toes, as she strafed them at the most unexpected times. Floatzel's water attacks drenched the opposition, leaving them vulnerable to the electricity crackling randomly, and Torterra had stomped out to block the entrance, launching ground-splitting Earthquakes with apparent ease.

Something nudged Cyrus' shoulder, and he turned to find his vision dominated by the flame-and-cream of Dawn's Rapidash. The fiery equine circled quickly to where Dawn was and then knelt down, staring at Cyrus, who quickly took in the import of that gaze.

The sheer independence of the Champion's Pokémon astounded him; it showed how incredibly well-trained they were, and their unparalleled ability to work together as a team. But most of all, their loyalty to Dawn shone; Rapidash was ready to spirit Dawn away to safety as the rest of them covered their tracks. There was so much trust between them, and her team readily turned that trust to Cyrus as well.

His own Pokémon were slowly joining in the offensive, as Cyrus placed Dawn on Rapidash's back. "Alright, go on," he said.

But Rapidash simply stared at him further, and when Cyrus did nothing, snorted and flicked her head in impatience.

"I would only slow you down if-"

Cyrus' words were cut off as he was bodily lifted from the ground, and slung over Rapidash's broad back; he looked back in time to see the blur of green and white that must have been Gallade before Rapidash took off, and the scene was quickly fading from sight. Rapidash's strides ate up the ground, and Cyrus could feel the heat shimmering around them as her mane streamed out, though not harming them in the least. It was all that he could do to cling on, because Cyrus knew full well that if he fell off, serious injury would likely result.

And then they were dodging people, pavement ringing out beneath Rapidash's hooves. Cyrus' stomach did another odd flip as they flew through the air over a large truck, and skidded to a halt in front of the Pokémon Center. He didn't dismount as much as just drop off into a heap on the ground, as their abrupt entrance drew the attention of the nurses and the nearby police.

Somehow, amidst all the noise and chaos, the local authorities manage to conclude that there was something going on at Mr. Backlot's mansion. Perhaps it was the Arcanine that appeared to be conversing with Rapidash, or that Dawn's Poké Gear was still on and the red dot was bleeping insistently. A team of uniformed officers departed immediately, using various modes of transportation, with Rapidash leading the way.

/

A mere hour later, the police forces returned; from what he heard, Cyrus concluded that a majority of the Galactic grunts had escaped. His Pokémon, along with Dawn's, had been treated quickly at the Pokémon Center, and were no more worse for the wear apart from a few scratches and strained muscles.

But the League Champion herself still appeared to be in shock. A few medical officers had attended to her, but they all said the same thing, that she would come out of it soon. The process, they had added, could speed up if given a secure, familiar environment. Given that knowledge, Cyrus had released her Pokémon from their Poké Balls, and they currently crowded around her, but she still stared at nothing, sitting on the grass outside the police station where Cyrus had put her down. Trembling, lost in her own thoughts as she stared into nothing.

Before, he would have condemned her as weak, would have used this as a show of how her compassion was pitiful, her emotions pathetic. He would have scoffed at the deaths of a few score people, seen them as a small sacrifice in light of obtaining his goal. Indeed, Cyrus had ended the lives of more people and Pokémon than he could care to remember, even if it had been from the indirect result of his actions, and hadn't lost a night's sleep over it.

So why had he pulled her away from the scene, shielded her from the sight, and tried to comfort her? Why had he treated her as if she were a fragile thing that needed to be protected from the harsh things of the world? Dawn was no longer a child, but he found himself compelled to preserve the innocence that she seemed to represent, some sort of purity that as a young boy, he had… yearned for.

As an adult, Cyrus had been convinced that such a thing couldn't exist, and had scorned human attempts at the sentiment as irrational. The only law was to survive, and to do that one had to be strong. And again, Dawn was the one to shatter this belief. He should have hated her for what she'd done to his world, or at least taken this opportunity to escape, but he couldn't bring himself to do either.

Suddenly breaking from the group encircling Dawn, her Floatzel bounded up to Cyrus, who had been watching from a distance. The water-type placed its paws around Cyrus' hand, and tugged, not enough to actually pull Cyrus over, but to get his attention.

"What is it?" he asked. He wasn't used to Pokémon acting of their own volition.

Floatzel looked back towards Dawn, then at Cyrus again, saying something quite unintelligible to him, but...

"You want me to go over?"

Nodding, the sea weasel dashed off. Approaching cautiously, Cyrus noticed that Dawn's Pokémon had moved aside to allow him a spot as well.

Just as he settled himself on the grass, Dawn looked up at him. "I'm pathetic, aren't I?" she asked, letting out a soft laugh that held no mirth. "You'd think that as League Champion, I'd be made of tougher stuff than this."

Not knowing what to say to that, Cyrus remained silent. She stared back down at the grass.

"I've come to understand that death is a necessary for life to occur," she continued after a bit. "Preying on another for survival is fundamental, even if that other is as lowly as this grass. But hacking them apart like that… it's not the same. There was no need for them to die…"

The investigators at the scene had yet to discover the reason for the murders, and Cyrus wasn't about to inform them of what he thought. A group of reporters were there, pressing for answers, but only a few facts, such as the number of dead and their identities, along with the estimated time of the incident, had been reported. Any reporters seeking to question Dawn had been politely but firmly refused, and none had approached Cyrus, not knowing of his involvement or his identity. He wouldn't have answered, in any case.

And to her words, Cyrus had nothing to say.

/

A loud melody filled the air. Startled, Cyrus looked up; he had been sitting by Dawn's bedside, the latter having fallen asleep the moment she lay down. It was from the shock, explained Nurse Joy, before going off to tend to the other visitors of Hearthome City's illustrious Pokémon Center. Another doctor had dropped by, and simply said that rest was probably the best thing for Dawn at the moment.

Perhaps he had dozed off for a moment while sitting in the comfortable chair.

Dawn didn't stir at the sound of what Cyrus finally determined to be her Poké Gear's ringtone, showing just how drained the young Champion must have been, considering the device was on the table by her bed. Picking it up, Cyrus briefly glanced at the identity of the caller, then did a double take.

_Saturn_.

It shouldn't have been such a shock, he realized, considering that Dawn had told him that she kept in contact with his former underling. If Saturn was calling Dawn, then perhaps it had something to do with the actions of the Galactic grunts earlier…?

"Hello?"

The look of shock painted on Saturn's face was almost priceless. "Ma-master Cyrus!" he exclaimed, and then the screen blurred, as the Poké Gear's speakers rendered the sound of something clattering to the floor.

"My apologies," Saturn apologized, as he reappeared in the screen; he seemed to have regained his usual composure. There seemed to be a few more wrinkles on Saturn's face than Cyrus remembered; evidently the strain of running an organization filled with incompetent grunts had taken a toll on him. "I didn't expect you to answer Miss Dawn's Poké Gear. I assume she's nearby?"

"Dawn is currently asleep."

"Ah, then I guess I shall call back later," Saturn said smoothly.

But Cyrus didn't miss the strained note in his former underling's voice; how many times had he heard it when someone tried to conceal something from him? "What is it that you wish to tell her?"

Saturn seemed to be biting his lip. "Well, Miss Dawn did tell me to not divulge the information I give her to anyone else, which includes you…"

He seemed to be wavering on whether or not he believed Dawn's ordinance was a good enough reason to not say anything, and Cyrus was quite content to let Saturn squirm uncomfortably under his stare. It didn't take very long.

"Okay, okay. I was helping Dawn research into the faction of deserters that attacked the two of you, and they seem to be under the impression that…"

/

Dawn awoke with a start, bolting up in the bed. Glancing quickly around, she noticed that there was no one in sight in the room, and the half-closed blinds were dark. Cyrus' Poké Balls were on the bedside table, along with her own, though the man himself was nowhere to be seen. He was probably outside, then, assuming that this was the Pokémon Center.

Getting out of bed, the polished floorboards cool against her bare feet, Dawn noticed the message light on her Poké Gear was blinking, though the sound had been turned down. Picking up the device, she scanned the recent calls.

_Saturn? He must have found out some information about the attackers_, she thought, hitting the redial button even though her Poké Gear informed her that it was about one in the morning. From the call list, it seemed Saturn thought there was something urgent to tell her; there were nine missed calls over the span of three hours.

"Miss Dawn! Master Cyrus intercepted my initial call, and I fear that he may have acted rashly on his own!" Saturn nearly shouted once the call connected.

"What do you mean?" Dawn demanded.

As Saturn frantically explained the information he had told Cyrus, Dawn felt a growing sense of dread in her stomach. No sooner had he stopped his increasingly higher-pitched babbling had Dawn tossed the device into her bag, donned her shoes, and grabbed the Poké Balls on the table. And as she did, she noticed that Cyrus' Poké Balls were empty…

"Where's Cyrus?" she shouted at Nurse Joy as she ran out into the hall.

"He left about three hours ago," Nurse Joy informed her, yawning.

The sleepy look on the nurse's face turned to astonishment the next instant when Dawn spewed out a string of vulgar expletives and ran out the door.

_Mt. Coronet_, Saturn had said, but Dawn instinctively knew that the true location was the Spear Pillar. Events always seemed to come back to that place, as if drawn to it by its mythological significance and very real power.

Teleporting there without knowing the conditions would probably prove to be unwise, especially considering Gallade's limited teleportation distances. And flying into dark cloud during the night on Staraptor was probably not a good idea either, but Dawn wasn't in the mood to use typical methods of transportation. She yanked off the single sphere that hung around her neck on a fine silver chain.

"Giratina!" she shouted, releasing the legendary. "We're going to Spear Pillar!"

But what would she do anyway, once she got there? Perhaps Cyrus had intentions to join with them, but even so, was that bad? All Saturn had said was that the new Team Galactic had wanted to make Cyrus appease the anger of the god-Pokémon Arceus, for the actions that he had committed seven years ago.

Yet Dawn had a sense of foreboding about this encounter. This branch of Team Galactic had murdered dozens in cold blood, or perhaps even enjoyment, while Cyrus had never harmed her. If the purpose of this meeting wasn't to have Cyrus reinstated as leader, then it was obviously a trap. Most likely they wanted something, perhaps some knowledge that he alone possessed. Or, as she feared, his life.

Dawn had long ago concluded that Cyrus had no reason to remain alive. It had been the only plausible explanation for why he remained within the Distortion World for so long. He felt no reason to remain in this world, which he was unable to remake to his own liking, and since he hated the world, the only option left would be to die. But to have him die would mean that she had failed in her mission.

Flying though the clouds and over the snow-covered plains on the outskirts of the mountain, Giratina reared onto the platform that was the Spear Pillar, just as two gunshots rang out.

/

"Cyrus!"

Dawn's scream rent the air, as he was thrown back against one of the pillars by the impact. It didn't hurt, not yet.

He'd been a fool, to think that his Pokémon, weakened by their seven-year captivity within their Poke Balls, would be able to take down the rogue Galactic grunts. Had been naïve enough to think that there were only two, arrogant enough to think that they were utterly unintelligent, simple-minded enough to think that they would follow the rules. And perhaps desperate enough to come while Dawn was still asleep, in the hopes that she would not see what he knew would be the inevitable end.

"Giratina, use Shadow Force!"

The angry, powerful presence tore into the rogue Galactic grunts, surrounding them in its darkness, enveloping them in despair in response to Dawn's rage. Their screams were swallowed up, cut off as Giratina unleashed its terror. Cyrus vaguely wondered if they would survive.

And Dawn fell to her knees beside him, eyes wide at the crimson spreading across his abdomen.

"You idiot. Why didn't you wait?" she demanded, her voice uncharacteristically shrill.

Cyrus tried to smile. "I'm sorry." He couldn't even hear his own voice.

"You _knew_ they wanted to kill you. Why did you come alone? Why didn't you wait for me?" A tentative hand that reached out, grasping his arm. He could only barely make out her features. "You can't just die…"

It still all ended with death, these emotions. And yet now he knew they were no illusion.

His capacity to feel pain seemed to have dulled, eclipsed by the effort it took to keep breathing, to keep his eyes open. Cyrus felt heavy. He wanted to reach up and wipe those tears that filled her eyes, threatening to fall down in a rain. That she would cry for him was more than he had ever wished for. In that moment, he knew that Lucas had been right, that he'd been in love with Dawn from the very beginning, but had never, ever realized it…

"Dawn," he managed to say, his breath coming in gasps, "I… I think…"

/

"…I love you."

Dawn stared at Cyrus, at his pale face, his now closed eyes. His chest still moved up and down, but she knew that would cease soon. His confession hadn't surprised her, but perhaps it was because she couldn't feel anything akin to that emotion, not at the moment. She was torn between backing away in denial, and the irrational urge to bury her face against his still chest.

_I didn't bring him this far just to lose him like this!_

Rage warred with grief, and both succumbed to the weariness that suddenly permeated her. It just wasn't real, wasn't fair.

She didn't know how long she knelt there in disbelief, in denial, in despair, until a gentle light drew her attention upwards.

/

_They'll hold a double funeral, because a part of you will die along with me._

/


End file.
